


Epoxy

by misbehavingvigilante



Series: Tales Inspired by the Discord Year 1 [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Fluff, M/M, MerMay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 09:26:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18797569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misbehavingvigilante/pseuds/misbehavingvigilante
Summary: It starts as many things do with something catching his eye.Or someone in this case.





	Epoxy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [muchmoremajestic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/muchmoremajestic/gifts).



> Okay, so hi, this might be a little random, but I saw someone on the server wasn't having the best day and I was like okay, what if I try and write them a little something and see if it helps. So um, enjoy? 
> 
> It's MerMay so that's where my thoughts went.

It starts as many things do with something catching his eye.

Or someone in this case.

Steve knew it was a little dangerous to stick to the shallows but his eyes weren’t the best out of water to begin with, so he had to do something to take glimpse of his latest muse. Sun kissed skin paired with styled brown hair, and warm brown eyes with noticeable but not overly musculature and a penchant for wearing sleeveless tops.

It was something Steve was happy for because if the man had covered up more he wouldn’t have seen the expanse of his arms, how defined they were even when only doing such minute gestures like tapping a screen of a phone. Phones sure had gotten smaller since his days. They fell into the water sometimes, usually shorting out but he knew about them to know that humans prized them very dearly and would jump into the water after them on occasion.

This man – Steve really needed a name but how was he supposed to introduce himself when he only looked human from the upper half? His long, strong blue tail was a dead giveaway there was something out of the ordinary about him, and it’s not like everyone would take kindly to his existence.

Or the existence of the rest of his people. Steve couldn’t be reckless and reveal that just so he knew his muse’s name.

He sighed, swimming underwater and off into one of his coves. It hadn’t been easy getting paints that didn’t make a mess out of the water or let alone worked underwater nor brushes that could stand up to the salt and sways of the ocean. Let alone finding canvases, the material itself could be rather waterproof but humans weren’t fond of discarding that and coming across it in an ocean based society meant it’s price was excessively high.  

That meant Steve’s choice usually ended up being cave walls, not all of which were smooth and seamless which made for the best surfaces when painting.

His muse had showed up an embarrassingly number of times in his paintings despite Steve only glimpsing him for the first time, one moon ago now. Thankfully the man didn’t seem interested in coming into the water. Some humans didn’t like playing or swimming in the ocean, they prefer to lounge on the beach laid down on their covers or their chairs.

Steve did hope at least the man knew how to swim. Some humans didn’t and they came close to the ocean, and the ocean was many things but it wasn’t always kind.

He put the thought out of his head because it was a terrible thing and he focused on his next painting. He was going to have to get some more supplies soon, he was low on certain colors since he kept painting the same thing over and over again.

He hoped Bucky didn’t find out about this, or he’d be teased relentlessly.

On the other hand, Bucky might encourage him to do something stupid since he insisted he had all the stupid with him to begin with.

 

 

 

There had been something thrown into the water. Steve wasn’t sure what, but he had been close enough to hear the ripples as something shiny and smaller than he expected sunk to the sands below. A few other sea creatures went to investigate but with how metallic it looked, Steve thought it might be important so he shooed them off.

It was a disc with a glowing center, it was very pretty and instinctively Steve reached out to touch it before he thought better of it. Immediately there was a flash, and his eyes felt dazed from the unnatural amount of light for a moment there. He went for cover belatedly, watching the device remain stationary from where it had sunk, not looking like it had done anything in the first place but Steve had known it did.

Did it only respond to touch? Like the new phones did? Or that was how they worked right? He wasn’t the best with technology. Humans adapted too fast for him to keep up.

Steve didn’t want to leave it there, unsure if it was dangerous or not when something else dropped into the water. Further away from the illuminated metal disc and heavier too. Steve swam towards it nonetheless, if it was a threat he needed to take care of it. 

The smooth black piece was a phone. Immediately the screen lit up and there was a ringing noise. Steve reached for it, the webbing between his fingers made it a little difficult to grasp but it was sensitive enough to respond to his clumsy handling.

The screen then filled with his muse’s face.

“Ha! I knew you were real. But I wasn’t willingly to throw a perfectly good Starkphone into the ocean without a little proof.”

“The disc?” Steve asked, eyeing it from the distance. His eyes didn’t hurt as much still underwater even with the still bright sun overhead.

“Camera. Built it with some scraps. Have to capture footage underwater a little differently, you know? A lot like how you kept peeking out from the waves to stare at me?”

“I… uh…”

“Darling, I’m flattered, truly. But I’m much better in person than from a distance. I mean, I didn’t expect this is how I learnt about mermaids… merman? Merperson? I don’t know the technicalities.”

“My name is Steve.” Steve offered, not sure if that was helpful or not.

“Tony. Tony Stark, but that probably doesn’t mean anything to an underwater citizen.”

“No.” Steve shook his head. “I had painted you a lot but that’s because you were my muse, not that you were… famous?”

Steve wondered if that’s what Tony meant, hopefully he wasn’t understanding wrong.

“Wait, you painted me? Underwater?”

“…Sorry?”

“No, no. I wanna see. Swim over there and turn the screen to it. Or maybe I should just go swimming, if it’s not that deep? If it is, I’d need a suit, but I’d be willingly to brave the waters for you.”

Steve flushed.

“Red does look good on you.”

 

 

 

True to his word, Tony does see one of his coves where he painted nothing but him all throughout the cave walls. Steve kept waiting for Tony to find it creepy or unsettling but instead gets a kiss in return for efforts.

And Steve gets the fortune of showing Tony the benefits of kissing a merman involve temporary underwater breathing.   

**Author's Note:**

> If you wanna chat, I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/thiefoftruth26).


End file.
